2006 Season Review INTRO THIS IS LSU COACHES TIGERS REVIEW HISTORY RECORDS LSU MEDIA COMING BACK STRONG TIGERS EARN FIRST TRIP TO NCAA SUPER REGIONALS Stanford. The Tigers then appeared on Cox Sports Television six times, After sweeping through the NCAA Region 13 bracket in Baton Rouge, including an NCAA Regional championship win over UL-Lafayette. LSU the Tigers earned their first trip to the NCAA Super Regionals since the also faced South Carolina and Tennessee on Fox Sports as part of the SEC- tournament went to its current format in 2005. LSU, the top seed in its TV package. In addition, two of the Tigers’ three games at Tennessee were region and 15th overall national seed advanced undefeated through aired by ESPN, with the first game of the series televised by ESPN2 and Regional play, including a pair of one-run wins over in-state rival UL- the final game broadcast by ESPNU. LSU closed out the season with all Lafayette. three of its NCAA Super Regional games at Arizona broadcast on ESPNU. The Tigers advanced to face No. 2 seed and top-ranked Arizona in Tucson. After losing the first game, LSU came back to even the best-of- LSU VS. RANKED TEAMS three format with a 3-2 win in game two. It marked the Tigers’ first win In 2006, the Tigers had one of the toughest schedules in the nation. over a top-ranked team in school history and sent the series to a decisive LSU finished 19-14 against nationally ranked teams, including an 8-10 game three. Unfortunately, LSU could not make it two in a row as the record against teams ranked in the top 10. The Tigers recorded their first Wildcats won to advance to the Women’s College World Series, where win over a No. 1-ranked team when LSU topped Arizona, 3-2, in the sec- they claimed their seventh NCAA Championship. ond game of the NCAA Super Regional. TIGERS POST PROGRAM WIN NO. 500 TIGERS SCORE EARLY... With a 13-2 win in five innings over Kentucky on March 25, 2006, the The LSU softball team made a habit of taking early leads on oppo- LSU softball program earned its 500th victory since the program’s re- nents. In 69 games, the Tigers outscored their opponents, 81-29 (+52), in instatement in 1997. The Tigers entered the last season with 470 wins and the first inning. By the end of the fourth inning, the Tigers held a com- posted the 500th win just 35 games into the season. LSU is the only manding 231-82 (+149) scoring margin. LSU was 43-1 when leading after school in the SEC to break the 500-win plateau since the conference the fourth inning. began sponsoring softball in 1997. South Carolina has the most program In games when the Tigers took the lead first, LSU lost only once last wins of any school in the league (1,125), but has been competing in soft- season, going 48-1 (.980). In games where the opponent scored first the ball since 1974. Tigers were just 7-13 (.330). The only time LSU scored first and lost was on April 26, 2006, when LSU fell to Arkansas, 3-2, in nine innings. LSU HITS THE HALF CENTURY MARK AGAINST AUBURN With a win over Auburn at the SEC Tournament on May 11, 2006, ...AND TIGERS SCORE OFTEN LSU hit 50 wins in just 61 games. It also marked the eighth time in the last Last season, the Tigers scored 350 runs in 69 games for a 5.07 runs 10 years that the Tigers have hit the 50-win plateau and are one of only per game average, 22nd best in the NCAA, and just behind the school two teams to have eight 50-win seasons in the last 10 years. record of 5.58 set in 2004. On nine occasions LSU broke into double fig- ures in runs, including a school record-tying 20 runs in the first game of a TIGERS ON THE TUBE doubleheader against Grambling State. The Tigers appeared on television 14 times in 2006, including six The Tigers also had two innings in which they have scored eight or games broadcast by the ESPN networks. LSU’s first television appear- more runs. Against Texas Southern, LSU recorded the second most runs ances of the season was on ESPNU at the Palm Springs Classic against in an inning in school history with 12 in the second inning. That mark was 54 2007 LSU SOFTBALL MEDIA GUIDE 2006 Season Review behind the 15 scored in the fourth against Nicholls State on April 1, 2004, PRIME TARGET INTRO and tied the 12 runs scored in the third against Ole Miss in 1997. Camille Harris was hit by a pitch 16 times last season, breaking her THIS IS LSU LSU single-season record of 14 from 2005. She tied for second in the SEC THREE PROVES TO BE LSU'S MAGIC NUMBER and ranked 13th in the NCAA. For her career, she was hit 35 times, break- COACHES On the offensive side, the magic number for the Tigers seems to be ing the school career record with the second most in SEC career history. TIGERS three. LSU was 47-1 (.980) when scoring three or more runs in a game, REVIEW with the only loss of the season when scoring three runs coming in the GIVING IT UP FOR THE CAUSE final game of the year against No. 1 Arizona in the NCAA Super Regionals. With a game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh HISTORY However, the Tigers were 8-13 (.381) when scoring fewer than three runs. against UL-Lafayette in NCAA Regional play, Vanessa Soto broke the LSU RECORDS single-season sacrifice fly record. The sac fly that scored Quinlan Duhon LSU TWO OUTS ... NO PROBLEM from third was the seventh of the season for Soto, topping the eight-year The third out was quite elusive for opponents of LSU last season. The old mark of six set by Tara Asbill in 1998. MEDIA Tigers recorded 193 of their 350 runs with two outs, accounting for 55- With a sacrifice fly by Killian Roessner at No. 6 Tennessee on May 7, percent of their total runs. LSU hit .316 as a team with two outs, led by LSU broke the SEC single-season team record for sacrifice flies. The pre- Quinlan Duhon with a .378 average, followed by Leslie Klein at .375 and vious record of 27 was held by the 1998 Tigers. For the season, LSU had Lauren Castle at .368. 30 sacrifice flies. The Tigers had 10 players who recorded sacrifice flies, All but one of the Tigers recorded a two-out RBI. Nine players posted including five with three or more. double-figure RBI totals with two outs, led by Leslie Klein and Stephanie Hill with 19, while Lauren Delahoussaye had 17, Lauren Castle had 15 and GARCIA MAKES HISTORY WITH NO-NO NUMBER TWO Camille Harris, Killian Roessner and Andrea Smith all had 14. Against Mississippi Valley State on Feb. 17, in her second appearance of the season, Tiffany Garcia hurled her second-straight no-hitter, becom- IT TAKES A THIEF ing the first player in LSU history to In 69 games last season, LSU record back-to-back complete-game ranked third in the SEC with 93 stolen no-hitters. She was two outs from bases, the fifth most in LSU single-sea- recording her second-straight perfect son history, on 113 attempts for an .823 game after posting her first career per- percentage with 1.35 stolen bases/ fect game against Grambling State two game. Three Tigers stole at least 10 days earlier. It was also the 26th no-hit- bases with 11 players stealing at least ter in the program’s history. one base. Dee Dee Henderson led the team with a 28-for-32 mark, which GARCIA THROWS PERFECT GAME ranked 23rd in the NCAA, while Leslie In the second game of a doublehead- Klein stole 18 bases and Camille Harris er against Grambling State on Feb. 15, had 17. Tiffany Garcia hurled her first career perfect game. The first appearance of PITCHER PERFECT the season for Garcia also marked her LSU laid claim to the one of the top first complete-game no-hitter as a pitching staffs in the nation. The Tigers Tiger. The third perfect game in LSU his- allowed only 126 runs, 88 earned, in 69 tory, it was also the 25th no-hitter in the games with a 1.37 team earned run program’s history and the second of the average, which ranked 13th in the season. NCAA. In addition, LSU posted 31 shutouts and averaged 7.64 strikeouts HOFER HURLS NO-HITTER per seven innings. Three of the four In her first collegiate outing, Dani Tiger pitchers ranked in the top 10 in Hofer hurled a no-hitter against the league in ERA, including Emily Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Feb. 11. It Turner, who ranked ninth in the nation marked the first complete-game no-hit- with a 0.93 ERA. ter for Hofer as a Tiger, who tossed 15 no-no’s during her senior year in high DOUBLE TROUBLE school. It was also the 24th no-hitter in LSU softball history, and the first As a team, the Tigers hit 102 doubles in 69 games last season, or 1.48 since Kristin Schmidt fired a no-no against Centenary on April 2, 2003.